Residential-property prices rose at their slowest pace since December 2020 during May, according to figures from the Central Statistics Office (CSO).

Prices of houses and apartment increased at an annual rate of 2.4% – down from 3.4% in April.

During May, prices fell by 0.2% – the fourth monthly fall in a row.

The CSO figures show that prices in Dublin dropped by 0.2% in the 12 months to May, while prices outside the capital rose by 4.5%. The annual drop in Dublin prices was the first since November 2020.

Dublin house prices fall

A breakdown showed that house prices in Dublin fell at an annual rate of 0.4%, while apartment prices were up by 0.4%. The highest house price growth in Dublin was in South Dublin at 4%, while Dublin City saw a decline of 2.8%.

Outside Dublin, house prices recorded an annual increase of 4.7% and apartment prices rose by 1.7%. The region outside of Dublin that saw the largest rise in house prices was the West at 5.7%.

During May, households bought 4,435 homes at market prices – an increase of 18.9% compared with the 3,730 purchases in May 2022. Purchases in May were also 36% ahead of the April 2023 figure.

The median price of a residential property in the 12 months to May was €315,000.